State roundup for September 4

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaiian Electric Co. says it plans to deactivate its Honolulu Power Plant on Jan. 31 next year as it transitions to more renewable energy.

Vice President of Power Supply Ron Cox of Hawaiian Electric says the closure will help the company use less oil and lower electric bills.

The plant has been operating since 1954. It has two generators that can deliver 113 megawatts of energy.

The plant would be able to be reactivated if needed to avoid a power shortage.

Hawaiian Electric officials say other plants on Oahu and Maui will be deactivated in the coming years.

Man gets life in strip club killing

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — An Oahu man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering the colorful owner of an Orange County strip club in 1987.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Michael Murray says 59-year-old Richard Curtis Morris Jr., of Pearl City, was sentenced Tuesday for killing topless bar owner Jimmy Casino, whose real name was James Stockwell, with a shot to the back of the head in his Southern California home. Casino’s girlfriend was bound and raped.

In April, a jury found Morris guilty of three felony counts including special circumstances murder in the commission of robbery, murder in the commission of rape, and murder for financial gain.

Morris was arrested in 2008 when DNA from the rape was matched with a sample from a Hawaii DUI arrest.

Surfboard stabs car’s windshield

HONOLULU (AP) — A man was driving along a Honolulu freeway over the weekend when a surfboard crashed through the windshield just inches from his face, leaving him with only scratches on his face and arms.

Jerrin Ching was driving on the H-1 freeway Sunday morning when the red surfboard came out of nowhere and pierced through the glass.

“I’m just thankful to be here,” he said. “After it hit, I was like what just happened?”

Witnesses told police the surfboard fell off an overpass and bounced off a school bus. Ching said he was in the far left lane, driving east near the Punahou Street overpass, when “all of a sudden I see this red thing come out of nowhere.”

New plaque
for Liliuokalani

HONOLULU (AP) — A new bronze plaque graces the 6-foot tall statue of Queen Liliuokalani at the Hawaii state Capitol.

The plaque was unveiled Monday during a rededication ceremony of the statue.

Monday also marked the 175th anniversary of Liliukalani’s birth. She was the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

The monarchy was overthrown in 1893, and she died in 1917.

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